Improvement in coking coat and generating gases



W. G. VALENTIN.

COKING COAL AND GENBRATINGGAS.

'PATENTBD JAH. 13, 1863.

PATBNTED JAN. '13, 1863.

W. G. VALENTIN. 'COKIN G GOAL AND GENERATING GAS.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2 PATENTBD JAN. 13, 1863. W. G. VALENTIN. Y GOKING GOAL AND GENERATING GAS.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

JIIQ

No. 37,412. PATENTED JANL13, 1863.

` w. G. VALENTIN. GOKING GOAL AND GBNBNATING GAS.

4 slums-snm 4 liL IhsIITeD STATES,-

` Pair-ENTA OFFICE.

-WILLIAM'GEORGE vA'IINTIm-or'oxroan s'rnEE'Ig'c'oUNrY oF MIDDLE.

l sex-jexetitsn.

t '|MP'RoveMENT-:INcoKmGcoALANo cENERATlNe/GASES.

specification fox-mit; vpai-I; of Letters Patent No. 37,4 lo, dater. January 1a, lees.v

To all whom it' may concern, g 1 Q? Be it known that I, WILLIAM GEQRGEYAL ENTIN, of the Royal College of Chemistry, Government School of Mines, Oxford- Street, in the county of Middlesex, vin that'partof the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland' known as England, chemist, 4have .invented au Improved Mode of and Apparatus for Coking Coal and Generating Combustible Gases for Heatingand Lighting Purposes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full* and exfrom the coalduring the eoking operation. g

In carrying out my invention any convenient nu ibcI ot' close chambers or retorts may be combined in one set otapparatus. These chambers arc by preference of rectangular form, but may, if desired, be made of -an"'el.. 4liptical or other convenient shape. If rectan.

gular, as shown in the accompanying drawings, they should be made long, narrow, and deep. They are to be closed at top, and prof' vided with a hopper or funnel or other opening,'through which they'are to be charged withI coal. The bottom f the chamber is movable, being made in the form of a tra-p or sliding door or other suitable contriva-nce, which, when let fait or opened, will allow the charge, after being properly coked, to drop into a vacant space below. The coking-cham bers are heated by the combustible gases evolved from the coal during,r previous coking operations, and which gases must be collected and stored for the purpose. All the eokingchambers are surrounded by narrow passages or fines, into which the combustible gases', together with a suitable supply of atmospheric air to support combustion, arc introduced through suitable burners communicating with asnpply-pipc connected with the gasreser voir. In order to prevent the heat generated by the combustion ot' the gases from passing otf too rapidly, a number of partitions are placed in the ilues, so as to make the heated vapors pass in a serpentine direct-ion along the dues. When the heated cokes are discharged from the coking chambers or retorts into the space below, they are quenched by -means ol' hydrochloric-acid'gas or by a dilute' solution of hydrochloric acid.. This will have the effect of taking up and carrying olf a certain portion of the sulphur contained in the coal. The gases and vapors evolved duringv the coking operation are conducted by asuit- 4 able arrangement of pipes from thc cokingf chambers to a receiver and condenser, where the tar and other solid or liquid matters vmay be separated from the incondensible gases, which are conducted -to a gas-holder, so as to be ready for heating the retorts or cokingchambers in the manner above mentioned, or for other purposes for which they may be usefully employed-as for lighting, heating, or other purposes. The coking-chambers or vretortsy may also be advantageously employed as gas-generators. For this purpose the mode .of operating will have to be slightly modified. I would also remark that in starting the coking operatiomwhcn no combustible gas as yet been generated, I. propose to light .orignite the 'charge in the retorts by igniti'ng the. coal at the bottom of the retorts and ad- .ImittiugA a 'slow current of atmospheric air through'v the door in front' of the retorts or l 'chainbe,rs'until the whole mass of coal is well ignited; I then close the air-hole entirely,

and when a proper quantity of combustible gas has beeniobtained from thc cokmg coal it is employ-ed to heat the retort from the outside,

as above mentioned, and hereinafter more particular-ly described. A further supply of gas,

consisting, chiefly, of carbonio-oxide gas, (diluted and deteriorated by a certain amount of nitrogen gas,) may afterward be obtained 'by allowing a regulated supply of air to pass through the retorts, and this carbonio-oxide gas may be advantageously employed for heating the retorts. Atmospheric air and alittle steam may be admitted with :ulvanta-ge during the whole of the time thc coking operation lasts. The result of the dcc'omposit-ion ofthe steam and atmospheric air will be certain combustible gasessuch ascarbonic-oxide and' hydrogen gas-. togetlicr with a certain amount of incombustiblc nitrogen gas from the air.

Steam alone by preference superheated) or common' steam ma) be passed over or through amass of ignited colic, when the steam will f undergo a decomposition at the expense of a air.

certain, amount of carbon, and will be converted into two highly? combustiblegases--A iin ,carbonio-oxide and hydrogen gas. In or der to carry on this decomposition of steam for icngth of time, external h eat is required to seep up the ytmnperature of the coke at which the chemical change in the steam andcarbon can take place. This cau be eected by means of the heating arrangement'above referred to, hereinafter more particularly described.

The gases resulting from the action of steam upon ignited carbon are not deteriorated by the presence of nitrogen gas, as inthe two preus instances, and are therefore capable of je 'ucing the Very highest temperature when burned with the proper adniixture of atmos- By means of some suitable appaatns superbes/ted steam may he generated in the ordinary manner, and caused to pass through coal-tar before entering the lretorts, chambers, or' ovens. The heavier hydrocarbons taken up by the steam in passing through the coal-tar would, under the induence of great heat and the presence of nascent hydrogen gas, undergo a change and form hydrocarbons of a simpler composition and oi' intense illuminating power, (oleiiunt gas.) This process would be applicable when it is desired to obtain combustible gases for illuminating purposes rather than for the purpose of generating the greatest heat.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l, Sheet I, is a sectional elevation of a coking apparatus constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan View of the same. l'.lhe part shown in section in Fig. 2 is taken on the `linc l 2 of Fig. 1, and the part shown in section in Fig. l is taken on the line 3 4 of Fig. 2 and 3 4 of Fig. 3, which is a 1ongitudinal vertical section of the apparatus, taken in the line 5 6 of Fig. 2-that is, longitudinally through two ofthe (joking-chambers or Ietorts. Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section taken in the line 7 8 of Fig. 2that is, through the side iiues and hot-air channels, whereby the coking-chambers or retorts are heated.

a a, a a are the coking-chambers 'or retorts, which, it willbe seen, are made long, deep, and narrow, and are 'charged with coal from above through the hoppers b b. The bottoms of the retorts or coking-chambers are made movable, and are constructed either in the form .of trap-doors, as seen at c c, and which'may be let fall on their hinges, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, for the purpose of discharging the contents of the' chambers a a, or the lower open ends of the chambers or retorts a a may be cl-osed by a movable plate, c', lined with fire-brick and mounted on wheels, which run on rails, as shown at c', Figs. land 3, and on an enlarged scale at Fig. 5, Sheet II. movable plate or bottom c' may bc drawn out by a chain and windlass, or by the rack-and pinion motion shown in Fig. 3f l The contents of the chambers or retorts a, when sufficiently coked, are (by withdrawing the movable bottoms c or c) discharged into This ' sans ,the vacant space d below. This space is closed I by suitable doors, so as to convert it into a @Jose chamber, for the purpose hereinafter mentioned.

The chambers or retorts a a areheated by combustible gases,which are suppliedthrough suitable burners, ff,to the heated dues or chan nels ee, as shown in the enlarged sectional View, Fig. 6, Sheet II. These burners are conn structed in such a manner that air to' support combustion is supplied with the gases to the heating-hues e e through openings g g, constructed of fire-brick, as seen best in the enlarged sectional views, Figs. and 6, Sheet II. These burners are shown detached and drawn full size at Figs. 8 and 9, Sheet Il, and will be hereinafter more fully described.

Fig. 7 is a plan View representing aconvenientmethod of arranging theburners when several coking-chambers or retorts are combined.

in one apparatus. The burners belonging lto theseveral chambers or retorts are adapted to branch pipes f,which communicate with a central supply-pipe, h. The gases and air from the burners f f are supplied to the flues e e, where they are burned, while the incombustible gases and the heated vapors pass in the direction indicated by the arrows down the narrow flues e' e', and up the adjoining ilues e e in a serpentine direction, as seen in Fig. 4, and from thencevinto the upward ront ilues, e2 e, Fig. 2, into an arched horizontal l due, e3, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, above the chambers or retorts a a., and ultimately into the longtudrnal flue ci, which terminates in the chimney or stack e5. It will be seen that by this arrangement of dues the heated gases will have time to part with the principal portionof their caloric before reaching the chimney or stack e5.

the combustible gases issue and pass up the chimney ,which is screwed into a chamber, j. 'This chamber is screwed onto the socket and incluses the burner f, and has' a number of diagonal holes made in it for the purpose of admitting air to the interior, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. S. The air and gases commingle in the chamber j andI chimney i, up which they pass and through the openings gg intov the heating-fines or channels e e,- Figs. 5 and 6, where they are burned in the manner already described.

During the coking operation a considerable quantity of combustible gases is given off from the coal in the chambers or retorts a a, and

these gases are drawn off from the chambers from whence they pass down the pine m to the Fig. 8, 'Sheet II, is a vertical section drawn condenser, purifier, or gas reservoirs or holders, so as to be ready for' being;` tused for heat-ing the coking-chambers, as already described, as well as for other heating purposes. and also for'lighting. vWhen the charge in any of the chambers or retorts a has been sufficiently coked, the removable bottoms c or c' are removed and the incandescent cokeis discharged into the chambers d below, which are by prei'- erence to made capacious enough to receive the whole charge. The coke may then be quenched in the usual way by water, orby employing a dilute solution of hydrochloric acid, and this should be done with the doors of the chamber.

d closed. By this means a large portion of the sulphur contained inthe coke will be'abi sorbed, and as the air will be prevented from.

heated externally by the combustion of gases generated from similar previous coking operations, and applied in the manner herein set forth.'

2. The use of the vertical'close chambersvor retorts a. in combination with the external ues or heating-channels supplied with combustible gases and air from the burners f. t

3. The use and application ofthe combination Aof parts,whether for coking coal or generating combustible gases for heating and lighting purposes. v

In witness whereof I, the` said WxLLIAM GEORGE VALENTIN, have hereunto set my hand and seal this 3d day of October, 1862.

WM. G. VALENTIN. [L. s] Vitnesses:

FRED WALKDEN,

66 Chancery Lane, London. J. W. WYNN, 24 Royal Exchange, London. 

